Thursday, 21 August 2008

Microsoft Cuts Down on Its Virtualization Licensing Fees

In a recent announcement Microsoft said that it is dropping the additional license fees it charges customers when they move server software from one host computer to another ...

In a recent announcement Microsoft said that it is dropping the additional license fees it charges customers when they move server software from one host computer to another .

The announcement appears to be a minor strategy shift on the surface: Instead of counting software licenses by server, the new policy allows enterprise customers to purchase a license package for an entire server farm. The idea is that applications can be moved within a virtualized environment as needed, which potentially could reduce the number of software licenses for a server farm within large organizations. Previously, Microsoft had a 90-day software reassignment rule in place.

"Businesses are taking steps to make their IT operations more dynamic and are delving into virtualization as a cornerstone strategy," Microsoft Senior Director Zane Adam said in a statement. "Microsoft recognizes this and is innovating its licensing policies, product support, and a wide range of IT solutions to help customers get virtual now."

The change applies to 41 server titles , Microsoft said, including the enterprise version of SQL Server 2008, the standard and enterprise versions of Exchange Server 2007, Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Enterprise and Professional editions, as well as the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Microsoft System Center products.

Microsoft also updated its support policy for 31 server applications, providing technical support when deploying applications on Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, Microsoft Hyper-V Server and third-party validated virtualization platforms. Microsoft promises same level of product support in a virtualized environment as provided for nonvirtual environments.

Microsoft also plans to offer better support for businesses that are running its software inside other companies' virtualization engines. Under the changes, Microsoft will support its software running inside virtual machines from VMware, Cisco Systems, Citrix, Novell, Sun Microsystems, and Virtual Iron as if it were being run in nonvirtual environments.